Alison Weir's Six Tudor Queens project, Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 6:24 PM
Title: Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession
Author: Alison Weir
Published: May 16th 2017
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 544
ISBN:147222762X
Synopsis:
Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession by bestselling historian Alison Weir, author of Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, is the second captivating novel in the Six Tudor Queens series. An unforgettable portrait of the ambitious woman whose fate we know all too well, but whose true motivations may surprise you. Essential reading for fans of Philippa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick.
Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life' Guardian
Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life' Guardian
The young woman who changed the course of history.
Fresh from the palaces of Burgundy and France, Anne draws attention at the English court, embracing the play of courtly love. But when the King commands, nothing is ever a game.
Anne has a spirit worthy of a crown - and the crown is what she seeks. At any price.
Fresh from the palaces of Burgundy and France, Anne draws attention at the English court, embracing the play of courtly love. But when the King commands, nothing is ever a game.
Anne has a spirit worthy of a crown - and the crown is what she seeks. At any price.
My Review:
''But Anne was asking herself why being queen mattered so much, when the chance for true love was hers for the seizing. And always she came back to the argument that the crown was hers for the seizing too. She had never seen marriage alone as an especially fulfilling estate for women. She had always wanted more in life – and more than she had ever dreamed of would soon, God willing, be in her grasp. There was so much that she could accomplish as queen.''
The most detailed, well-researched, thoughtful and credible version I have ever read; such a different outlook of the oft-told tale of Anne Boleyn. The book opens when Anne is eleven and follow through to her death and it was something special to read a novel that allows you to follow a historical figure through life and witness as they make life-changing decisions.
My favourite part of the book and an aspect of Anne's life often overlooked or glossed over in other books and media was Anne's upbringing in court of Burgundy and in French court and the powerful women she served, including Margaret of Austria, Henry VIII’s sister in France Queen Mary, Queen Claude and later Marguerite de Navarre. Anne which emerges from this is not the frivolous flirty girl we have come to think of as the historic Anne Boleyn. Rather, this was a serious young woman—highly educated, sophisticated and importantly develops a sense of independence that is unheard-of for young English women in the Tudor age.
When a war between France and England is threatened Anne returns home where she is found a place at the court of Queen Katherine. What I love about this part, Anne didn't find Henry charming or was fascinated by him, she finds his looks to be nothing of a King, and his behavior horrifying. She doesn't love him; she falls in love with the idea of being Queen and the power and prestige that the position brings.
Anne’s temper changes over the years. She is transformed by the power and later by fear. But her deeply unpleasant behavior is understandable when you think of frustration she must have felt at the King’s inability to make break from Rome and divorce Katherine sooner than he did, after all, it took him seven years, and later in the marriage he starts treating her poorly, sometimes being cruel, having many mistresses, eventually leading him into a secret romance with Jane Seymour.
The final part of the book is gripping and is the most interesting, as it deals with the charges against Anne, her trial, and her death. It's obvious, now and before I had read this book, it was all the doing of Henry to get rid of her so he could pursue Jane Seymour. Even if that meant cruelly accusing her of most villous crimes–crimes she didn't commit.
Very emotional and sad to read the last few chapters, tore my heart out, to see the downfall of Anne and her fellow accused Smeaton, Norris, Weston, Brereton and her brother George Boleyn.
Summary:
I thought I had made up my mind about Anne Boleyn, I always admired her, she was a woman ahead of her time, but reading this book I see her now as brave, educated, sophisticated, ambitious but above all used by men. Yes, she still has many flaws, as we all do, but she is far from an evil woman often portrayed in history books.
I highly recommend this book – wonderfully enthralling, enlightening, emotional, very refreshing, convincing, well-written and researched it brings to life the Tudor court and the woman who changed English history.
